Share this:

My Winter To-Do-List just keeps getting longer lol. There is so much I’m planning to do in my home and I am SO excited to get started! The first one is the glaring one that has been staring at me ALL summer. I really need to finally tackle my workshop and get it complete. I spent literally this entire summer looking for that one tool I could never find.

Yesterday was the one year anniversary of my divorce and I spent it exactly as I should have: DOING WHATEVER THE HELL I WANTED!

It included dancing in my kitchen, listening to my favorite music way too loud and replying back to “happy divorce anniversary!!” messages from my friends and family with lots of fireworks GIFs.

The very best part of my day was spent with my mom and aunt with my mom’s tradition of making Christmas goodies. We pick our favorites and settle in baking together.

It entirely exemplifies exactly why I love the holidays. And it was the perfect thing to do as it was exactly what my ex would have been livid at me for doing.

And today I spent working on my house.

I worked on the one room that would never have existed as it is today before my divorce. One of a million things that have come around to me with so much joy sometimes I just have to sit down and breathe it in.

(I have these moments now where time seems to just stop so I can hear and feel the click of a puzzle piece falling into place. As though everything is becoming right now when before it was a terrible mess.)

It seems to me that divorce should be a sad thing and it seems awful to celebrate it though all I wanted to do that day was throw confetti and pop open a bottle of champagne.

In fact that’s kinda how I’ve felt for the last 12 months most of the time!

Once I got far enough away (from the relationship) after throwing him out, every single day just got better. They say you can’t see the elephant in the room and I think situations like mine are examples of that.

I simply had no idea the extent of it, truly.

I had some inkling though, at least enough to save myself. But even today, as I tackled my workshop with my heart and my hands. Every step I took, the entire scope of it all down to the very millimeter of what was making me so happy, not a single inch of it would have been allowed in my life before.

It is the biggest of things.

And I look back now at that elephant still just in aw that I never noticed the majority of him before and that I let him stay and stink up the place for as long as I did.

So, here we are gals, cheers to things falling into place!

And here is the state my workshop was in yesterday before I started work on it, OMG!

Horrifying!

To be fair to myself though this is northern Minnesota and when its nice outside any inside work just goes on the back burner. And then there are the holidays and then FINALLY my inside work can start for real!

You can kinda see my modem sitting in the closet and plugged in outside of the closet… Yeah so… that happened. I have brand new super fast internet which is totally amazing but when I ran the electrical for this house I had not planned on it being here lol.

So, first thing is first, I need to put an outlet in my closet and build a little spot just for my modem where it can be safe from workshop stuff.

From there its time to truly get on my workshop design, tool placement, wall board plans etc. I am SO DONE looking through boxes for a screw driver.

The other night I just decided that I hated my laundry room. It turns out that actually I’ve hated it for a long while now. But I guess I just hadn’t come up yet with an idea on how to make it better.

Is it functional? Sure.

Is it utilizing the space to the best of its ability? Certainly not!

My laundry room is technically a closet albeit a really big one at 4×8 feet. Big enough in fact that I want to move my washer and dryer combo unit so it faces into the room and is on one of the outside walls.

Besides that it really needs a good cleaning, some trim and a coat of paint not just on the walls but on the floors too! This is gonna be one of those little makeovers that I think is going to be very dramatic!

Next I’ll be moving on to my entryway.

Because of smoke and ash from my wood stove my walls and ceilings are totally DISGUSTING.

To be fair it wasn’t JUST the wood smoke that was at work here it was also my decision to use matte paint because I hate gloss. Well I’m gonna learn to love gloss!

Regardless though, even high gloss paint would still look awful after that wood stove.

It isn’t actually a HUGE job, its my office/entry and dining room, my kitchen and my living room. I plan on approaching this one with a one room at a time attitude and just putter away at it.

After I finish my laundry room I’m starting with my entryway with a top to bottom cleaning, some TLC to my floors and a new coat of paint on the entire space.

(For the first time I’m even going to put the ceiling medallion above my dining room chandelier that I’ve had for over four years!)

When I told you guys about my pellet stove install I was ecstatic because it went in a totally different spot than my wood stove so now I can revamp my kitchen!

I’m going to be making the closet under my stairs bigger and I’m also going to move the door which is now by my cook stove.

This means I’ll be adding five more feet of wall/storage space in my kitchen and it also means I’ll have more storage for pellets under my staircase. And, thank goodness, because I have bags of pellets coming out of my ears lol.

Moving on from there is my big closet in the hall by my workshop which is basically empty! My aunt gave me an ancient little wrought Iron bed this summer and my brain started turning.

Don’t we all deserve a book nook/napping spot?

I’m not taking the walls out totally because I am just not messing with the ceiling. Instead, I’m leaving them from door height up and I’m going to mount a DIY curtain rod that runs all the way along on the inside.

The curtains will be tied back the majority of the time but they can be pulled to create privacy if I have so many guests I need another bed. But, mostly, its just going to be my awesome napping day bed area!

I plan on painting the two “inside” walls a darker color and really distinguishing it as its own tiny, cozy room.

The closet light will need to be moved so I’m going to put it in a place close to the bed and use a fixture that can be turned on and off at the light.

Related

Share this:

Hi guys :) Thank you so much for coming by and reading my posts! You might also like my Weekly DIY newsletter so you don't miss anything! Just type in your email to sign up!

16 Comments

JUDI

December 16, 2018 at 11:58 am

Hi Tarah

It’s been ages since I’ve had time to have proper read of your blog, but I love calling by and seeing what you’ve been up to. Congratulations on the anniversary of your divorce, it really seems to have changed your life so much for the better, and sounds like you’re blossoming.

I had to laugh as I read through this post, as your ‘to do’ list appears to be even longer than mine, and I thought mine was bad enough, although after nearly 3 years in this old house, I do finally feel that the end of the major works is within reach, although there’s been many a time when I’ve wondered if we’d ever get the place ‘liveable’, lol.

Here in the UK, the weather is a national talking point, as it’s always so changeable, but thank goodness our winter’s don’t last as long as yours, otherwise I really think I’d go nuts!! We seem to have had nothing but rain of late, and it’s SO depressing.

Anyway I thought I’d just say hello, and take the opportunity to wish you a WONDERFUL Christmas, and another Happy and productive New Year!

Judi it so wonderful to hear from you, hope you have a wonderful holiday! They say that house work will never be “done” and awhile back that used to depress me lol but, honestly, I love that I keep having things to work on and get excited about and also to keep me busy. Especially in the winter’s here its good to have inside work to do or else I go stir crazy!!

Your winter to do list made me tired! You are right, you are going to need a longer winter!!! The good thing is, if it doesn’t get done this winter, there will always be another – right!?! Good luck and I can’t wait to see the finished products.

Tarah, I love reading your posts. My husband and I have remodeled our homes in the past and now I am at the point that I’m tired of doing it, but after reading what you are doing it gives me a push to continue on. I hope that you will be able to get at lease half of your winter list done before spring arrives. Happy Holidays to you and your family.

Hey Jean, yes when I worked on it this weekend I finally got some order and actually know where everything is! Its not pretty yet but just being able to find what I’m looking for is SO GREAT. Lol I have no idea but I really doubt if he reads it.

You amaze me. I so envy a woman that knows her way around power tools!! 🙂 I am happy you are celebrating this new journey. Although I only know you in the blogging world, I cannot imagine you without your projects and your workshop and anyone who would deny you that joy, would be stifling your creativity and that would be such a waste. Enjoy the journey and good luck with all of your winter projects.

your happiness is practically bursting through my computer screen! Thats a pretty extensive list and I am looking forward to seeing the results of your hard work. So glad that you are really enjoying life in your home and with your family, and so glad you were strong enough to remove the ex who was preventing joy in your life. Have a wondrous holiday season.

You go girl. I also want to say congratulations on your one year divorversary! I can imagine how free you must feel to be able to do the things you love. Good luck on that long list of projects and Merry Christmas to you Tarah!

Leave a Comment

I’m Tarah!

There is nothing I love more then making something new and usable again that someone else would have thrown out or torn down. Find out more about me, how I renovated my Grandparents’ 100 year old house and how I am a total DIY fanatic by checking out The story behind Storyhardt Farm You can also find out more about the amazing Grandma behind this blog who moved in to this old farmhouse with my Grandpa nearly 70 years ago!

Sign up for my weekly DIY Newsletter!

Email Address*

Sign up

Email Address*

Disclaimer

Everything you see here on this blog the author has chosen to do so entirely at her own risk. And that is: risk to herself and risk to whatever she may be working on/her home and her own wallet. The author assumes absolutely no liability if you choose to follow in her foot steps and attempt anything you see on this website yourself. The author strongly urges you to do your due dilligence before attempting anything of a diy nature at home.

Disclosure and Privacy Policy

This post may contain affiliate links and, if you do choose to use them it will cost you nothing, but you will be supporting my little farm as well as this blog and my future projects. Likewise for the banners and ads you see around this site. This site also collects Cookies: For my Full Disclosure, click HEREFor my Privacy Policy, click HERE

Copyright Notice

All the photos and text on this blog are copyright Protected and owned by the author. If you would like to feature or use any of the photos or work you see here that is wonderful! You may share one photo from a post, if linked back to the original post. You may not copy entire articles and posts (even if you link back to me) without my express permission. Email requests using the contact form HERE